Rise of the Prince
by Sarcastic Nobody
Summary: Amazing what one small change in thought can do to a man, let alone what it can do to a Saiyan Prince. Vegeta's ever-wounded pride takes hold, and thus brings the Z-fighters full circle. Please R&R. My first story in quite a while, hope you enjoy!
1. Prologue: Incipience of Anguish

_**Disclaimer: The following is a fan-written story. Dragonball, Dragonball Z, and Dragonball GT are all owned by TOEI and Akira Toriyama. Please don't sue me.**_

**Author's Note: The premise for this story is due to a very subtle change at the end of the Cell arc. For much of the prologue, nothing really will divert from the original story, except for one slight change. Hope you enjoy.**

Prologue: Incipience of Anguish

An enormous crater filled everyone's field of vision, as the debris fell from the sky, bringing with it a small child, a naïve grin splashed upon his face from ear to ear. The child, bloodied and bruised, simply lay sprawled on the earth, pain coursing through every pore on his body. Despite the agony he was in, a soft, slow chuckle escaped his lips.

Within mere moments, a crowd of familiar faces surrounded him. They were shouting, seemingly gleefully, though none of this reached the boy's ears.

"I can't believe it!!! We're saved!!!"

"Gohan!!! You actually did it!!!"

"We've got to get him to Dende!! He needs healing, and we're out of senzu!!"

Gently, a pair of muscular arms lifted him off the ground. Still lying limp, he recognized that Yamcha was the one carrying him.

"Let's go!!" Yamcha declared in his arrogant, mock-leaderly voice. And with that, the group departed for the Lookout.

However, only one of them noticed yet another figure floating softly to the ground. Knowingly, Piccolo turned his head. "I'll lend you a hand, Vegeta…"

The proud prince simply stared at him, impassively. "Mind your own business, Namekian. I'm a Saiyan." He turned away. "I don't need your help."

"Heh, indeed…" Piccolo smirked, then charged ahead to catch up to the others. Vegeta stared into the horizon.

"I was utterly beaten… By that father and son…" He clenched his fist until blood leaked from his gloved hand. "Curse you, Kakarrot… How dare you die like that!?" He kicked off from the ground, hard, racing off toward the far off southern mountains.

"This is not the end… I swear it!!!"

**Alright, pologue finished. I apologize for the lack of action of significant changes,but I promise you, they are coming. I plan on this story being very long, so please bear with me. feel free to R&R!!**


	2. Chapter 1: Invocation of Fear

**Disclaimer: I only wish that I could own DBZ. But I don't.**

Chapter 1: Invocation of Fear

_**Five years later**_

_Gohan spun through the air, deftly dodging each blow Cell hurled at him. Laughing a little, he playfully punched the ki wave sent toward him, enjoying seeing the blast dissipate into thousands of gleaming particles. He landed on the ground, and began to swat away Cells blasts with his back turned. Humiliating this creature was so much fun that he could keep at it all day. Still chuckling a bit he turned to face Cell, intending to beat him to a bloody pulp._

_The color left his face._

_Cell stood atop a cliff, a sneer on his face. He held Goku by his collar. Goku's face was now little more than a bloody pile of meat, almost indistinguishable as belonging to the man attached to it. Blood poured down Goku's body, and Cell simply stood, laughing. "A marvelous idea, Gohan, fighting me with your back turned. You've allowed me to compete my programming." He threw back his head, laughing. "Oh, how does it feel, Gohan, to be so strong, and yet so weak!? How does it feel to know that your weaker opponent has wounded you far deeper than you can even begin to hope to reciprocate!? How does it feel, Gohan!? Gohan!?"_

_Gohan buried his face in his hands… This couldn't have happened… His fault…_

"_Gohan!?"_

_Gohan let out a blood-curdling scream. He tried to lift his arms to silence the bug, but they wouldn't move. All he could do was watch that creature mutilate his father._

"_Gohan!?"_

_Why wouldn't it just shut up!? He continued to watch as his father's body was reduced to nothing but bloody rags before his eyes…_

"GOHAN!!!!"

Gohan jerked awake, sweat pouring down his body. He was panting heavily, and began frantically looking around. After several minutes, his head made confirmation that he was at the table in his home. Breathing a sigh of relief at having escaped his nightmare, he slumped back in his seat.

CLANG!!!! A frying pan smashed into the side of his face, sending him crashing to the floor. "Young man," came a hostile, yet feminine voice, "I do not appreciate you taking your schoolwork so lightly." Gohan groaned, recognizing the voice as that of his mother.

"Ugh, but mo-ooooooooom, I've been doing these problems all day. There's only so much a guy can take!"

"Excuse me!?" Chi-Chi growled, malice in her voice, "I've checked this last practice test I gave you. You only got an 83%. **83%**!!!" She threw the papers at him. "How can you POSSILY expect to make it to a decent High School if you can't-" CLANG! Gohan was beaten with the pan again, "even"- CLANG! "do-" CLANG! "basic-" _**CLANG!!!**_ "MATH!?" At this point, Gohan could barely see, and his head was ringing to the point that he could barely even stand up. Chi-Chi towered over him, her weapon still in her hand, "NOW SHUT UP AND GET TO WORK!"

Grumbling, Gohan rose slowly, legs shaking, and staggered over to his desk. He rubbed the large lump on the back of his head, wincing at the sharp pain. How it was that he could destroy Cell, terror of the universe, and yet still be taken down by his mother, he'd never understand. Perhaps next time it would be more beneficial to send an army or angry women against the monster?

As he began flipping through the pages of his worn schoolbook, he thought about the nightmare from which hr escaped. That dream had been haunting him lately, which didn't make sense. He'd come to terms with Goku's death a long time ago. Goku had made it clear that it didn't matter; he'd made it clear that he NEEDED to be dead. Gohan slowly turned to look at Chi-Chi, and grimaced. _Maybe… his motives went beyond protecting the Earth…_

Orange filled his vision, as, yet again, he was knocked to the ground. A bounding mass of energy began jumping up and down on his gut, winding him every time.

"Big Brother, Big Brother!!! Can you take me to go play with Truuuuuuuunks!? Pleeeeeeeease???"

"G-Goten-" Gohan was barely able to bleat out, "Can't… S-studying… Mom-"

"Moooooooommmmm!" Goten leaped playfully off his brother and bounded across the room to hug Chi-Chi, "Can I go to play with Trunks? Pleeeeeease?"

"Oh, my little angel," Chi-Chi's coldness melted, "of course you can!" She let go of the cheering Goten and turned to Gohan, "Gohan! Go take your brother to Bulma's place!"

"B-but you said-"

CLANG! "DON'T ARGUE!!"

Giggling, Marron clapped her hands as she sailed through the air, only to be caught by extremely strong yet gentle hands. Laughing along with his young daughter, Krillin tossed her gently into the air again, catching her as she came down. Marron beamed up at her father. God, Krillin loved her. At such a young age, already he could tell that she would be far more beautiful than her mother. Grinning, he tossed her gently into the air again.

"Are you two going to keep at that all day?"

Krillin glanced over his shoulder to see an irate looking 18 standing in the doorway. He knew from past experience that when 18 had that look on her face, the safest course of action was usually to hide in some deep cave somewhere. "E-Eighteen!? W-what's wrong?"

The android woman sighed, "Krillin, we need to talk. I want to move out."

"Move out? But why? Kame House has been my home since I was a kid! Besides, where could we go? We don't have enough money or a house!"

18 clenched her teeth, "I'm sick of that lecherous old geezer!" she snapped, jabbing her thumb toward the living room, where Roshi was watching some beach bunny movie, blood dripping out of his nose. "Every time I walk into the room, he tries to feel me up! I'm sick of it!" She kicked the doorframe, causing part of the wall to explode. Marron started crying. Krillen began rocking her gently, attempting to soothe the child. 18 sighed again. "At least try to think of Marron. What's going to happen to her here when she reaches her teens?" Krillin shuddered at the thought; he could see how that could be a potential problem. "Can't you convince your friend Bulma to let us move in!?"

Krillin broke out in a cold sweat; the idea of being surrounded by 2 extremely short tempered women every day was about as appealing as trying to kill Cell all by himself. "W-well, I guess I could try, but-"

He was interrupted by a hard knock on the front door. "Come on in!" came the reply of Roshi, who sounded like he didn't even glance up from the TV.

The next sound to be heard was the loud sizzle of a ki blast, silencing immediately the resounding scream from the old master. Immediately, 18 shouted at Krillin "Get Marron out of here!" She raced to face the assailant as Krillin grabbed Marron and raced out the window, trying to stop her crying. He did not get far, however, before another blast struck him in the back, wounding him severely. His grip on his daughter slipped, sending her flying forward into the ocean while he hit the sand. Groaning, he heard a gruff voice shout "PUPPET WOMAN!!" followed by a short scuffle, and a ki blast. Grunting, Krillin turned over, hearing the voice proclaim "Vengeance is mine."

Krillin's jaw dropped. Kame House was in ruins. There was no trace of Roshi anywhere. Moaning through welling tears, he saw tufts of blond hair, and one of 18's severed boots sticking up. He strained his eyes through the clouds of debris in an attempt to see se face of the assailant.

"No way…"

**Alright, first legitimate chapter down. I wonder who this mysterious assassin is (as if everyone didn't already know). Anyways, next chapter o be posted tomorrow. Reviews are appreciated. Like it, say so. Got issues? Tell me! I can't improve unless I know where the problems are!**

**And I promise, much more action and plot to come!**


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